Rodney Sadler

Rodney Sadler earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University in 1989, a graduate degree from the Howard University School of Divinity in 1992, and a Ph.D. from Duke University in 2001. His career experience includes serving as a pastor.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler. I’m a father, a Bible scholar, a Baptist minister, and your candidate to represent northeastern Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in the NC State House.

In 2013, I set foot in the NC General Assembly for the first time and was promptly arrested for peacefully protesting against the immoral leadership of the Republican-controlled legislature. I came home to Charlotte and realized that something had changed in my life. I knew that we needed a moral movement so that we could say: we should never have a government that lifts up the wealthy on the backs of the poorest among us.

In the North Carolina State House, I will be a champion for love in action. I will stand up to the powerful corporate interests, and be a voice for working families. I will fight for a state where every child can receive an excellent public education. Where one job is enough to afford a home, clean water to drink, and good food to eat. Where every one of us can get quality healthcare when we need it as a basic human right.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Right now, working people in Mecklenburg County can’t afford to live. The basic things — paying the electric bill, going to the doctor, buying eggs at the grocery store, keeping a roof over your head — get more expensive every day, while wages stay rock-bottom and jobs get harder and harder to find.

We know that things can be different. We all deserve wages we can live on. We all deserve a home we can afford. We all deserve quality healthcare as a basic human right. Our kids deserve strong public schools and safe streets.

In the wealthiest nation on earth, this is not beyond reach. But it will only be possible when our government works for people, instead of for profit.The wealthy few try to tell us to blame each other. They tell us it’s the fault of our immigrant neighbors. They hand out blame based on the color of our skin, how we dress, where we come from, or who we love.

We know better. My faith is clear: Love God, Love Your Neighbor, Love the Stranger.As a diabetic, I am only alive today because – by the grace of God – I got the care I needed when I needed it most. Too many of my neighbors, my close friends, my own family, have gone without the care they need because it’s too expensive, or have found themselves buried in mountains of debt after one desperate hospital visit.

It is not just, and it doesn’t need to be this way. In the Poor People’s Campaign, I fought fiercely to win Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, only for Trump and his billionaire buddies claw it away. In the NC House, I will be a champion for universal, single payer healthcare. Quality healthcare must be a fundamental right for everyone in North Carolina.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The affordability crisis is a dual crisis: one of rising prices and frozen wages. This is not an accident. If we are serious about making North Carolina affordable, we must be willing to push back against the corporate interests that are profiting from our suffering. That includes saying NO to Duke Energy when they ask the NCGA for a blank check to raise rates.

At the same time, we must urgently raise the minimum wage to a living wage – at the state level, indexing it to inflation and removing the unjust sub-minimum wage for tipped workers; and removing undemocratic “pre-emption” laws so that local government in Charlotte and Mecklenburg can set wages that reflect the cost of living in our county.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Josh Stein, Governor of NC

Black Political Caucus

UNITE HERE Local 23

SEIU Local 32BJ and Workers United

Carolina Federation

Sierra Club

Sunrise Movement

Climate Cabinet

Carolina Forward

Charlotte Muslim Caucus

NCDP Arab Caucus

NCAAT in Action

Advance Carolina

Caleb Theodros, NC Sen. District 41

Jennifer Roberts, Former Mayor of Charlotte

Honorable Al Austin, Former Charlotte City Councilor, D2

Julia Greenfield, NC House District 100

Christy Clark, Mayor of Huntersville

Rev. Dr. Peter Wherry, Lead Pastor, The Field Charlotte, Professor, D.Min. Program Director, Howard University

Cornelius Atkinson, The Heights Ministries

Rabbi Tracy Klirs, Retired from Temple Israel and Kol Tikvah

Dr. Hadia Mubarak, Resident Scholar, Pillars Mosque